Concrete Angels
by Celelorien
Summary: songfic to Martina McBride's Concrete Angel about Inuyasha's childhood. rated for mention of such unpleasant things as bullying and rape.


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Author's Note: I'm sure this has been done before, but bear with me peoples... i watched the vid with my dad on the top twenty countdown cause he'd been waiting to see this one that made it to number one, and it came on, and it just... i dunno, it spoke to me... so here we go with a songfic to "Concrete Angel" by Martina McBride. a few of the words are changed just a teensy bit, from she to he, cause it's about Inuyasha and his mom, who for the intent and purpose of this story shall be named Mika even though i have no idea if that is her real name or not. so there. and don't sue me, cause you'll only get my ramen what is 96 cents for 6 packets at the store. no, don't take my ramen!! nooo!! i don't own Inuyasha or his mom or this song, i just own the idea for this story! ;.;

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bold italics are song lyrics, it's written sort of from script-format sort of third-person and for a bit it's from Inuyasha's pov.

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He walks to school with the lunch she packed

Nobody knows what he's holdin' back

Wearin' the same dress he wore yesterday

She hides the bruises with linen and lace

Inuyasha waves cheerfully at his mother, his lunch bag in one small fist as he smiles at his mother standing in the doorway. She smiled back, waving just a little, as was proper for a lady. He turned away, and walked to school. Her smile fades from her face, and she returns indoors, sorrowful for her child and for herself as well. The leader of the village knocks roughly on the door, and she peers out fearfully. "I... we paid you for this week, please, I can't, not now," she sobbed into her hands.

"You will if I want you to," he said, a vicious leer on his face. "You and that halfbreed only live here cause I say you can, so you better do whatever I want if you want that brat of yours to be safe when he comes home from school." Silent tears running down her face, she nodded and led him in.

****

The teacher wonders but she doesn't ask

It's hard to see the pain behind the mask

Inuyasha's smile also fades as he turns around. He tugs the sleeve of his haori down, grateful she didn't feel the maternal obligation to bathe him anymore. She would have seen the large bruises running down his arm and side. They were beginning to purple slightly, so they would definitely notice. He brushes past the teacher quickly. She had already started to question him, but he shrugged it off with a steely expression. What did she really care if he was beaten up every day because of what he was by an entire posse of other kids who thought they were so much better than he was.

Bearing the burden of a secret storm

Sometimes she wishes she was never born

Mika sobbed quietly in her bed, alone once more and afraid. She hated this life sometimes, but when she saw her little Inuyasha smile, with real laughter in his eyes, or when her lord returned from his trips and held her close, it was all worth it. She stood fast for them, because she loved them. One day, she promised herself, beginning to tidy up before Inuyasha came home, one day they would leave this mess and go somewhere they could be accepted just for their insides, not what they looked like.

Through the wind and the rain

She stands hard as a stone

In a world that she can't rise above

But her dreams give her wings

And she flies to a place where she's loved

Concrete angel

She finishes cleaning, taking a quick wash to clean away any stink of that man. Inuyasha's nose, even though he was young, was sensitive enough to pick up direct contact, but not able to comprehend the subtler odors. She gives him a big hug as he comes into her room, then freezes as he flinches. Her mouth pulled back in a tight-lipped frown, she pulls up the sleeve of his haori, eyes narrowing as she beholds the purple and blue bruises. "No. Now they have gone too far," she said angrily, her voice giving away barely controlled rage. Inuyasha's eyes were downcast, and he looked up with wide eyes. 

"Momma?" he said quietly. "I'm sorry..." Her eyes gentled, and she held him close.

"Oh baby, it's not your fault. Momma's gonna go make some people very sorry they messed with my little baby." He smiled but pretended to look upset.

"I'm not a baby, I'm a big boy now!" he said, sticking his nose up and taking the most ridiculous pose. She laughed just a little at that, he was just so precious. A rock came hurtling through the window, shattering the window and the moment. Mika gasped and pushed Inuyasha towards the door, to be met with orangey red flames and the figure of the village leader.

"Going somewhere?" he asked viciously, smiling evilly.

"Inuyasha, run, run away! Don't come back no matter what!" she screamed, pushing him towards the side door leading out from the kitchen. He runs blindly in a panic, afraid for his mother and afraid for himself. He hides between the jutted-up roots of a tree, and watches with wide and tearful eyes as his house burns and his mother's screams can be heard above all. He wants to go to her, but her injunction holds, and he sobs into his dirt-smudged hands, ears flattening to try to block out the sound, to no avail. He runs instead to the village, shouting for help. At first a few windows are opened, the candles pouring light onto the streets, but the window shutters were shut again. 

"It's just that halfbreed," he heard one person grumble before returning to bed. Inuyasha froze, tears till streaking down his face. They wouldn't help him or his mother, and he was too small to do anything. Crying, he ran back to his house, watching in horrified silence as the flames burned higher. The village leader left out the back door, smoke billowing from the opening. He paused to shoot a nasty glare at the hanyou, and left quickly.

Somebody cries in the middle of the night

The neighbors hear, but they turn out the lights

A fragile soul caught in the hands of fate

When morning comes it'll be too late

Inuyasha stood in a small clearing near the ruins of what had sixty years ago been a village. Kagome was not with him, nor Sango, nor Miroku. Not even Shippo or Kirara. It was a clear spring morning, the wind gently blowing. He knelt, feeling the soft green grass and small flowers beneath his hands. He stared at his claws passively for a second, then moved towards the ruins of an old stone well. He and his mother had often played here, and here was where he had buried her ashes. Though he was young he had been able to tell her ashes from the others because of her scent. He smiled faintly at the weathered scraggly remains of a wooden board, a name roughly carved into it. He pulled it out carefully, putting it aside and setting the statue he had gotten from Kagome's time down. Settling it deep into the earth, the small statue was simple yet elegant. An angel graced the top of it, and in the polished rock he had had her name carved in a way that would not weather away for years upon years.

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Mika Tashioki

Loving Mother

Remembered Forever

A single tear dripped down his cheek, and he wiped it away, smiling almost scornfully at himself. "Look at me Mom, I'm crying. Cause I remember you. I remember everything. You were the most perfect, most wonderful person in the world. You would like Kagome, I'm sure. I.. I think I like her.. You know, in the icky way," he said, laughing and crying at the same time as he remembered their discussion on girls. "I miss you so much Mom... I wish you could have been there for just a little while longer, but this way I had to grow up. Now I really am big and strong, and I protect Kagome and the others. I just wish I had something of yours to remember you by. I remember, of course, but still..." He paused, collecting himself. A gentle wind blew, picking up strength, creating a small dust storm in the middle of the clearing in a patch of grass that had not yet grown over from all the ash left. It caught his attention, and he watched it curiously. A small scrap of fabric fluttered back and forth, poking up from the ground. The wind died away, and Inuyasha padded over to it, curious. Digging gently, he unearthed the piece. "Mom..." he whispered, tears in his eyes again. "Thanks." He clutched the small piece of kimono to his heart, then placed it carefully in his haori sleeve. He would sew it on later. He bowed gently to the statue once more, and walked away, smiling slightly.

****

Through the wind and the rain

She stands hard as a stone

In a world that she can't rise above

But her dreams give her wings

And she flies to a place where she's loved

Concrete angel

A statue stands in a shaded place

An angel girl with an upturned face

A name is written on a polished rock

A broken heart that the world forgot

Through the wind and the rain

She stands hard as a stone

In a world that she can't rise above

But her dreams give her wings

And she flies to a place where she's loved

Concrete angel


End file.
